Jack Rodwell wearing the iconic blue Everton Shirt; Rodwell playing against Reading in the FA Cup

Jack Rodwell has accumulated over 100 first-team appearances for Everton, worn the captain's armband whilst representing his country, and is now making an impression as a member of the full England squad.

It's fair to say that at just 20 years of age the Southport-born midfielder has already achieved a lot.

In an exclusive interview with JMU Journalism, he discusses life as a Premier League footballer, fulfilling his childhood dreams and how it feels to be tipped as England's new golden boy.

The Merseyside lad led a very normal childhood until the age of seven, when he was picked to play for Everton. He told JMU Journalism: “I always supported Everton as a child. When I joined the club it was so amazing. As I got older, I started to realise just how much I had achieved and I started to dream about playing in the first team, and I put everything into achieving it.”

Even though Jack is now a hero to many youngsters, he still has his own idols within the sport and says he admires a lot of other players, such as Alan Shearer and "the likes of [Lionel] Messi, Xavi and [Andres] Iniesta".

To outsiders, the Premier League seems like
a glamorous world, where the players get paid
millions to run around a pitch and are constantly
embroiled in scandals in tabloid newspapers,
but in reality that is far from the truth, according to
Jack.

He said: “I usually train around five days a week
plus a match of a weekend, so it’s important for
me to rest a lot so my muscles can recover after
each session. After the session I will usually
come home and rest around the house for a few
hours. I try to keep my life very low key and not too
strenuous.

“There are times when I feel I can't do what my
friends do, for example going out a lot on a night
out, because I feel people might judge me, but
this is just a small sacrifice that I'm happy to do.”

The highlight of Rodwell’s career so far has most
definitely been his transition from the England Under
21’s squad to the first team. Rodwell told JMU Journalism
about his promotion to the senior side: “Getting called up to
England seniors was a dream come true, playing for England
is most kids' dream and to be able to achieve it is so surreal.
It’s the biggest highlight of my career so far, it has just made
me want to play for them as much as I possibly can.”

The media attention on the sport has heightened in recent times, as many footballers grace our newspaper headlines for their personal lives instead of their performances on the pitch. He said: “I sometimes get down about myself being in the media but I think it’s really important for me not to focus on that side for me. I just try to stay concentrated on playing well. I do get attention when I go out, but mostly it’s only from fans asking for pictures and I’m always more than happy to do so.

"I want to achieve as much in the game as I possibly can, at the moment there is a lot more to come from me and I feel as though I’m improving season by season, I just want to continue to do that.”